These healthy Mexican Veggie Burgers are fun, filling, and downright tasty! They’re also gloriously gluten-free and topped with the most delicious taco aioli, rendering them totally crave-worthy!
Recently I took a “How foodie are you?” quiz on the timesuck-formerly-known-as-Facebook and scored 100%.
That means you have to listen to me when I tell you to make these immediately right? Right!
These Mexican Veggie Burgers are delicious!
Each tasty veggie burger is loaded with a hearty trio of beans and decked out with colorful veggies sprinkled with flavorful homemade taco seasoning. It’s a fiesta in your face.
Make some for now, freeze some for later, and pass these along to friends and family if you’re feeling particularly charitable.
Friends don’t let friends eat questionably processed veggie burgers.
They just don’t.
Mexican Veggie Burgers
Homemade Mexican Veggie Burgers with Taco Aioli
Ingredients
- ½ cup diced bell pepper (any color)
- ½ cup diced onion
- ½ cup corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (for sauteing)
- 1 flax egg (or 1 large egg)
- ½ cup canned lentils
- ½ cup canned black beans
- ½ cup refried beans
- 1 TBSP ground flax seed (yay fiber!)
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats or quick oats
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- fresh cilantro to taste
ADD-ONS + EXTRAS
- buns or bibb lettuce wraps
- fresh avocado or guacamole
- tomatoes
- greens
- spicy mustard
EASY TACO AIOLI
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 TBSP all-natural mayo
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ TBSP fresh lime juice
- ⅛ salt
- cayenne pepper to taste
Instructions
FIRST MAKE THE FLAX EGG
- First order of business is to whisk together a flax egg. Whisk together 1 tablespoon of ground flax with 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl.
- Place in the fridge to thicken and set while you make the burgers.
NEXT MAKE THE PATTIES
- Pour a little oil in a skillet and, on medium-high heat, cook onion, peppers, and corn until tender. Add the garlic towards the end to prevent burning.
- Next add black beans, lentils, and refried beans and mix well, removing the skillet from heat and turning off your burner.
- Now add spices, oats, an extra tablespoon of flax and the flax egg. A regular egg can be use if preferred.
- Mix ingredients together. The best way to do this is to just dive in and get your hands dirty.
- I added an extra sprinkle of chili powder, paprika, and cayenne at this point to make the flavor even stronger, feel free to leave as is or follow suit!
- You can add the cilantro into the burger patties themselves or save it for topping your burgers.
- Line a plate with parchment paper.
- Divide the veggie burger mixture into four portions and roll into balls.
- For optimal burger shape, cup each ball in your hands and squeeze tightly, rotating as you gently, but firmly, press it into a disc.
- Place burger patties on parchment paper plate, cover with foil or cling wrap and refrigerate as you prep your buns (or lettuce wraps!) and toppings. This will give them a little while to set. You can even leave them overnight and cook them up the following day. These are great for meal prep!
READY TO EAT?
- Pour a teeny bit of oil in a skillet, heat to medium-high, and cook for a few minutes on each side until you're left with a golden crust.
- All that's left is to pile them high with every veggie you can get your hands on, slather them in taco aioli, wrap them in leafy green lettuce or a fluffy bun, and commence face-plantage.
FREEZER OPTION
- Simply cook the burgers per instructions above, allow to cool a bit, and then freeze (spaced) on a plate or cookie sheet. Once they've had a chance to partially freeze you can wrap them individually and pile them in baggies or your favorite airtight container for fast food without the freaky ingredients. To re-heat, simply pop on a baking sheet in the oven for about 18-20 minutes at 400 F.
Notes
Nutrition
special diets and swaps
You can use a chia egg in place of the flax egg or just go ahead and grab a regular egg if you have one handy! All three are marvelously interchangeable in this recipe. I love the lentils in these burgers, but chickpeas, white beans, kidney beans, and even extra black beans will work if you prefer! I made these bad boys a bit on the spicy side [not too spicy for moi but let’s just say the chickpea’s face after taking a bite was pah-riceless!] so feel free to skip the cayenne and use paprika instead.
t-rex chefs, brotosaurus chefs, + vegansaurus chefs: have at it!
They’re also gloriously gluten-free as long as you use a GF bun or slap these babies on some bibb lettuce and make your burger into a lettuce wrap [it’s phenomenal!] For a fabulously vegan burger, simply skip the optional sauce recipe; easy peasy! Those of you who aren’t dairy-free and need a slice or two of cheese in their life, go for it! I think we’ve got all the bases covered, eh? Let’s make some veggie burgers!
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS
These Mexican Veggie Burgers are totally freezer-friendly! To freeze, simply cook the burgers per instructions above, allow to cool a bit, and then freeze, spaced, on a plate or cookie sheet. Once they’ve had a chance to partially freeze you can wrap them individually and pile them in baggies or your favorite airtight container for fast food without the freaky ingredients. To re-heat, simply pop on a baking sheet in the oven for about 18-20 minutes at 400F.
If you get a chance to try these tasty mexican veggie burgers let me know!
You can leave me a comment here (love checking those daily!) or tag @peasandcrayons #peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation! I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
So many ingredients and prep work..who has half a cup of cooked lentils lying around …we have to reverse engineer quantities of every bean/lentil ingredient. No mention of when to add lenti
Hi Jane! See below about the lentils. No need to reverse engineer when using canned beans and canned lentils but if you’re making dry black beans, lentils, and refried beans from scratch just to make the burgers that is a ton of work! I can absolutely make all available shortcuts more clear if you think that is needed? The post could use some fresh photos so I’m happy to clarify whatever you would find helpful here. xo
When do the lentils go in? Same time as the beans?
Yes. I used the term beans to refer to the black beans, refried beans, and lentils but totally understand the confusion! I’ve updated that step to make it more clear.
Hi! Made these for dinner and the taste was great but they were really dry. The recipie calls for ground oats so I used oat flour. So you think that would have made them so dry?
Eek! Was the oat powder super fine like a typical all purpose flour is? I’m wondering as well if that had something to do with it. When I grind my oats it’s more of a lazy grind to make them more like quick cook oats where they give awesome texture to the burger and act as a binder with the egg or flax egg. These are on my list to reshoot this summer with new photos so I’ll adds some process shots to give a more visual guide to what the oats and uncooked mixture should look like – I feel like that would be more helpful yeah?
Just made these for dinner tonight. It was a delicious and easy recipe. I did find, though, that my burgers did not stay together. The only change I made was I used all black beans instead of some refried beans, but I did mash some beans.
Oh well, I just tossed the mix on top of my bun and ate it like a sloppy joe
So glad you enjoyed them Amanda! So the refried beans are the binder (or glue, lol) that hold these burgers together, so partially mashing the black beans makes them more likely to fall apart since the consistency is different. Still very tasty though! Other options include blending the black beans into faux refried beans, adding additional binder ingredients, etc… Totally customizable but need some extra binder to stay together. The chill time is also super helpful here for keeping the burgers together as I’ve found out the hard way, lol! xoxo
These are great! I wouldn’t change a thing from the recipe. They freeze perfectly and do not taste like they have been frozen when you reheat them. I love them without a bun and just a few toppings 🙂
Can these burgers be baked instead of fried? I always bake my other veggie burgers. Thank you
Hi! I like to sear them first for just a little bit on each side before baking but they should be able to just go straight into the oven as well. They’re extremely sticky so you’ll want to use some oil to prevent sticking and maybe flip them halfway through if you don’t sear first? LMK how it goes!
I feel silly asking this question but I am confused about the flax egg. I read the directions re: how to make the flax egg–but then later on in the instructions it says to add the EXTRA tablespoon of the flax but the ingredients only list 1 Tablespoon of flax needed. Also, if I just use one large egg, do I still need to add the flax water mixture? Please advise! Thank you!
I can totally see how that’s confusing, thanks for reaching out Kelly! Ok so the flax egg is listed as an ingredient (which is 3 TBSP water and 1 TBSP flax) but I’m a wee bit “extra” and also add an extra TBSP of flax to the burger mixture, which is the amount listed a few lines down after the flax egg. It’s 100% optional since some people are using and egg and have no flax handy but if you’d like the extra TBSP is just an added/optional burst of omegas and fiber. Let me know if this helps! I am soooo excited for you to try these! xoxo
Hi Jenn, loved your recipies, I will try some this weekend. Just one question: Do I need to cook them before freezing?
Tks a lot!
Hi Vera! I’m so excited for you to try these veggie burgers! Yes you’ll want to pan-fry them before freezing so they stay together when you reheat, and you’ll be able to bake them the second time around which is super convenient 🙂
Wow, these look so yummy. thanks for sharing:) just wondering what do u wrap them in when freezing? What kind of beans are refried beans? Thanks a million. Can’t wait to try and make them.
So excited for you to try them! The refried beans can be smashed/refried black beans or pinto beans (whichever you prefer!) and to freeze them I usually let the cooked patties cool, lay them flat on a plate in the freezer until they’re mostly frozen, then transfer them to a freezer baggie.They could also be wrapped in plastic wrap or parchment paper before storing in the bag/container. Hope you adore the veggie burgers!
I was reading about how whether you hate or love cilantro is actually genetic. Funny because I can’t stand it. I can tell if there is even a tiny piece in my food and it becomes inedible to me. My mom is the same way and I never knew that until recently. Sort of envy people who like it because I feel I’m missing out on so much delicious take out.
It’s fascinating right?! The entire world is basically divided on cilantro because it tastes like straight up dish soap to so many people. I totally feel you on wanting to eat something you just can’t tolerate – I’m still jealous of everyone that can eat olives because I long to love them and cant get past the first bite without chugging water and wiping my tongue.
You my friend are a veggie burger genius.
I will definitely be making these tomorrow!!!
Looks incredible. I will def try this recipe.
Come to California and cook for me daily? I will pay you in sunshine.
These look awesome, must try them soon! Thanks!
These might be some of the best looking veggie burgers ever. Yum!
Is it bad that this made me want Arby’s? LOL! Looks awesome. Curly fries… mmmm…
mmmm i need to make this! h loves veggie burgers!
Yowza I need to edit that in! Thanks Angela!! It makes four patties. Or three really big ones but if you do three, cook them longer to make sure the middle gets nice and cooked too 🙂
You had me at Taco Aioli! Holy YUMMM
These look and sound absolutely awesome, love these burgers!
holy moly deliciousness!
How many burger patties does this make?
These sound awesome! I am excited to try them 🙂
Ummm yes please!! Burger Tuesday ftw!!
oh my! Burger hungry for the rest of the day now. 😉 These look amazing! YUM!
Oh man, these look amazing. And so do the bread you’re using. Caaarbs are calling my name lately!
Hello, delicious looking burgers. And with curly fries? Oh, yes. Curly fries make everything better,
Dinner at your place? 😉
Your creations always look so FUN!